Babylon 5: The Lost Tales
Babylon 5: The Lost Tales was intended to be a direct to DVD anthology series set in the Babylon 5 universe. J. Michael Straczynski announced this project at the 2006 San Diego Comic Con. Straczynski described the stories as ones he had for Babylon 5 but didn't have the time to produce. However, only one installment, titled Voices in the Dark, was produced, and Straczynski has no plans to produce any more. Straczynski's original plan for the DVD series was that each story would be worked around an established cast member, and that the production would use cast members from the original television show. Voices In The Dark features not only John Sheridan and Elizabeth Lochley from the original series but also Galen the techno-mage from the Babylon 5 spin-off series Crusade in a pivotal role. Galen was not technically a cast member from Babylon 5, although he did appear in the TV movie A Call to Arms. Voices In The Dark Voices In The Dark is the title of the only DVD to be published. When the project and its budgets were first green-lit, Straczynski stated that they were planning a first DVD containing three half-hour episodes, to add up to around 75–90 minutes of story material. (This was subsequently changed to two forty-minute episodes.) He also stated that there would be additional material, adding up to a two hour DVD. Straczynski was set to write, produce, and direct them. There was a third storyline in the original script involving Michael Garibaldi, Jerry Doyle's character from Babylon 5. Eventually it was decided that there should be only two segments, and since his was the most complicated visually and technically, it was postponed for the next planned installment. Filming wrapped on 24 November 2006 and the DVD was released on 31 July 2007. Cast *Bruce Boxleitner as President John Sheridan *Tracy Scoggins as Colonel Elizabeth Lochley *Peter Woodward as Galen *Bruce Ramsay as Simon Burke *Keegan MacIntosh as Prince Regent Dius Vintari *Alan Scarfe as Father Cassidy *Teryl Rothery as Miss Chambers - ISN News Reporter Summary Voices in the Dark is set in December 2271, on the eve of the tenth anniversary of the founding of the Interstellar Alliance. The story features two linked plotlines running concurrently and covering the same 72-hour span, the two segments are entitled "Over Here" and "Over There". Over Here Over Here features Colonel Lochley on Babylon 5 awaiting Sheridan's arrival, who summons Father Cassidy from Earth space to help deal with a mysterious, seemingly supernatural problem. , as used by ISA President Sheridan]] This supernatural problem turns out to be that security officer Simon Burke has been possessed by a demonic life form named Asmodeus. Now Lochley and Father Cassidy must investigate the situation and decide whether or not an exorcism is in everyone's best interest. Lochley eventually determines that the Demonic spirit was banished to Earth and his only way to escape was to possess a body in order to be exorcised in deep space. Lochley sends Burke back to Earth where Asmodeus will be exorcised. Over There Over There follows ISA President John Sheridan on his way to B5 for a celebration of the 10th Anniversary of the formation of the Interstellar Alliance. During the journey he unexpectedly picks up the Centauri Prince Regent, Dius Vintari (third in line to the Centauri Imperial throne), on the edge of Centauri space. Shortly before Sheridan picked up Vintari, the techno-mage Galen appeared to Sheridan in a dream to warn him of the threat towards Earth. Sheridan realizes how this is reminiscent of Galen warning him of the Drakh attack in 2266, and thus is forced to take Galen at his word. Sheridan must now grapple with his ethics: should he murder one young man to potentially save billions of lives? Sheridan eventually realizes that with the disaster 30 years away he may be able to prevent the situation by starting a friendship with Vintari and invites him to his home on Minbar. DVD Release Voices In The Dark was released on DVD in North America on 31 July 2007 and in Europe on 3 September 2007. Planned Future Installments The planned second DVD would have featured a storyline involving Michael Garibaldi. It was also reported that J Michael Straczynski had approached Peter Jurasik, to see if he would reprise his role as Londo Mollari in a future DVD. Jurasik agreed to this, so long as Straczynski wrote Londo's storyline.Babylon Podcast #39: Interview with Peter Jurasik Cancellation On 13 July 2008, Straczynski announced in a Usenet post that there would be no further Lost Tales DVDs, because he was no longer interested in producing low-budget DVDs, cable projects or small computer games. He explained that he was proud of B5 as a five year story, but that he felt that The Legend of the Rangers and The Lost Tales, although well-intentioned, "did more to subtract from the legacy [of Babylon 5] than add to it". Therefore, Straczynski stated, " The only thing I would be interested in doing regarding Babylon 5 from this point on is a full-featured, big-budget feature film."JMS post on rec.arts.sf.tv.babylon5.moderated - 7/13/2008 6:42:18 PM References External links *[http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0871427/ Babylon 5: The Lost Tales - Voices in the Dark at the Internet Movie Database] * *Babylon 5:The Lost Tales Set Photos Category:DVDs